Monday, February 1, 2021

Shamrock Boys Drop King City, Win Fifth Straight

North Harrison’s boys continued to roll, dropping King City 64-43 for their fifth straight win Monday. Since the South Harrison Tournament, they have looked like a completely different team; Brett Emig and Wade Briggs continue to lead the scoring, but the Shamrocks are sharing the ball a lot more. Once again, the assist total was in the 20’s, with the Shamrocks dishing out 22 dimes, and eight players finding their way into the scoring column. The emergence of Kamden Robertson is a factor as well; he was one of the assist leaders in Monday’s game, showing a lot more confidence in handling the ball and finding the open person.

The game started off slow for the Shamrocks, as they could not take advantage of some early King City foul trouble thanks to five missed free throws in the first period. Brett Emig carried the team on his shoulders, getting 10 of North Harrison’s 12 points as the game was tied at 2, 5, 7, and 12. It didn’t help that North Harrison had a pair of defensive lapses, leaving purple shirts all alone under the basket.

Emig was doing all he could, drawing a charge on defense early in the second quarter, but King City still built up a four point lead after Kystin Aborn’s inside shot. But Wade Briggs followed his own missed three with a putback, which seemed to spark the Shamrocks for a while. They got four straight stops as Briggs got loose on the baseline after Brett Emig pushed the ball up the floor, and later added a free throw, as did Emig to make it 20-18 North Harrison. Grant Claycomb took a charge during that stretch. 

But then a silly turnover, which led to a cheap bucket on the other end by Landon Wells, sparked him, as he then proceeded to score 13 points in a row for King City, including three 3-pointers. Somehow, North Harrison managed to keep pace with Wells, as Briggs continued to have the hot hand and Emig added a couple of late baskets as North Harrison was fortunate to be down only one at 31-30.

After regrouping, North Harrison was able to refocus and play their best defensive half of the year, without sacrificing any of their offensive efficiency. They started off with five straight defensive stops as Wade Briggs hit an NBA 3-pointer and Emig added a putback as North Harrison moved back in front 35-31. Aborn got a putback for King City to cut it to 35-33, but North Harrison got five more stops in a row as Wade Briggs connected from the baseline, Brett Emig hit a free throw, posted up inside and converted, and added a pair of free throws after a successful fast break to make it double digits at 43-33.

Parker Muff temporarily stopped the bleeding with a free throw, but then Grant Claycomb hit a 3-pointer after Brett Emig kicked it out to him, and North Harrison locked down on defense three more times, including Grant Claycomb drawing a charge. Meanwhile, Nick Babinski hit from the right side and Brett Emig went coast to coast to make it 50-34. Aborn’s drive cut it to 50-36, but Wade Briggs cut inside and got a pass from Nick Babinski to make it 52-36.

In the third quarter, North Harrison had 17 defensive possessions, and had stops in 14 of them.

Wells finally got loose early in the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to cut it to 54-39, but then North Harrison got seven stops in a row as Grant Claycomb grabbed an offensive board and went to the hole, Emig scored off a drive and then took on three defenders in transition, converting both free throws.

Cooper Cracraft hit from the left side to make it 62-39 and Brett Emig took another charge on defense, the fourth charge North Harrison took that night. Brett Emig and Grant Claycomb both took two charges on defense.

After that, both teams put in their reserves for the remainder of the game. Tyson Gibson got on the board with a coast to coast layup.

Eight different Shamrocks scored in the game. Brett Emig had 31, Wade Briggs 18, Grant Claycomb 5, Brandon Hamilton 3, Nick Babinski, Cooper Cracraft, and Tyson Gibson each with 2, and Kamden Robertson 1.

Brett Emig had 10 boards. Tyson Gibson had 8, Kamden Robertson 4, Grant Claycomb, Nick Babinski, and Brandon Hamilton 2 each, and Wade Briggs 1.

Brett Emig had 5 assists. Grant Claycomb and Kamden Robertson had 4 each, Wade Briggs and Cooper Cracraft had 3 each, Nick Babinski 2, and Brandon Hamilton 1.

Brett Emig and Grant Claycomb had 5 tips. Nick Babinski and Tyson Gibson had 2, while Cooper Cracraft and Brandon Hamilton had 1.

Grant Claycomb had 4 steals. Brett Emig had 3, and Wade Briggs, Cooper Cracraft, Tyson Gibson, and Jerry Gilpatrick had 1.

The girls put up a good fight against a solid King City team, taking them to overtime, but King City snapped their six game winning streak, beating them 35-33 in overtime after one of their players hit a guarded three late in the extra period.



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